GreenBlue staff kicked off our monthly documentary series last week with a viewing of WASTE LAND. Geneva Hodges and other staff share their responses to the film.
WASTE LAND Official Trailer from Almega Projects on Vimeo.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” This quote was taken literally by the renowned Brazilian artist, Vik Muniz, on his year-long journey in Rio de Janeiro and the world’s largest landfill. This film was inspirational, beautifully filmed, and emotionally affective, all characteristics which make a good film great, but most importantly for me, it was incredibly relevant to the type of change that we hope to enthuse in the world. Muniz’s artistic creations were exceptionally beautiful, and his philanthropic motives for crafting his art were just as stunning, but I was most moved by the obvious dedication and pride of the self-chosen pickers of recyclable materials, who were documented in this film. They saw the value and importance in collecting recyclable materials for reuse, and we hope that one day this mentality will become the norm throughout the world.
Eric DesRoberts: This film was gripping from start to finish. Artist Vic Muniz brings stories and images from largest landfill in the world (Jardim Gramacho) into our homes. Focusing on the lives of the recyclable pickers that work at the landfill, Muniz captured the tragic awe of garbage by making enormous masterpieces of some of the workers using only materials from Jardim Gramacho. Of the many things this film offered, I found the transformation of workers’ emotions particularly interesting. From local pride, to shame and aversion, and eventually leading to hope and aspiration, it is amazing how something considered waste can be so rich in terms of technical nutrients and social significance.
Liz Shoch: One of the catadores (waste pickers) featured in the movie Waste Land had a motto: 99 is not 100. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It’s irresistible in its simplicity! His point was that even though he worked all day on a literal mountain of garbage, each piece of recyclable material he pulled out was one more piece that didn’t stay buried in that mountain. It’s a good mantra for those of us wishing we could wave a magic wand and make things just a bit easier in all aspects of life. Its simplicity applies just as equally when the garden needs weeding as when we look around and the real world doesn’t live up to our vision of a “sustainable” world. Big successes are few and far between, but “99 is not 100” reminds me that all the little things I do to make better packaging recovery a reality are having some small impact. Combined with all the small impacts others are making, together, we may be making a visible dent in that mountain of garbage.
Erin Malec: We talk a lot about the end of life of materials in our office, but to see such overwhelming images of what the end of life actually looks like in Jardim Gramacho was disheartening. To meet the workers, who literally clean up the mess of our society, and to see how they and Muniz extract value and beauty from such a setting was inspiring.
After watching WASTE LAND, it was good to read about this Brazil program to tackle waste reduction.
From the Huffington Post: Brazil’s Garbage Becomes an Olympic Challenge
What struck me about Waste Land was the thought that, from an industrial ecology perspective, the catadores (people, mind you) play a role analogous to that of scavengers in a natural ecosystem. What kinds of animals come to mind when you think of the word “scavenger”? The examples to be found on the Wikipedia page for scavenger include vultures, crows, coyotes, and hyenas, all of which suffer from image problems (in the eyes of humans, that is).
Now think about human culture and the status that adheres to professions that dispose of trash, sewage, or corpses (human or animal). We might all agree that every one of these trades is necessary, even respectable, but how many of us dream that our children will grow up to be garbage collectors or work in a rendering plant? (Ironically, in a societal context, even some of the work of “top” predators–namely, killing other animals for food–is considered so gruesome and unpleasant that it tends to be pushed onto the so-called lower classes.)
I doubt that anyone would suggest that all niches in an industrial ecosystem must be occupied by humans, and it’s not difficult to think of examples, like sewage treatment, in which other organisms play a key role. But the task of separating and consuming (reusing, recycling) all our waste is clearly not one humans can relegate to other species. Our waste is a complex mixture of biologically derived and synthetic materials. I think this is one reason why the ideal of separate cycles for technical and biological materials has such appeal. And it’s also why I tend to view single-stream recycling schemes (let alone those in which recyclables and garbage are commingled) with such a jaundiced eye.
If the services provided by scavengers are an essential component of any healthy ecosystem, those services must also be a part of a healthy industrial ecosystem. Therefore, if we want to build industrial systems that mimic natural systems, we have to grapple with questions like who or what is going to play all the roles, fill all the ecological niches. Especially during periods of high unemployment, it might make economic sense to employ more people to deal effectively with waste. But let’s at least be honest about how that jibes with concepts of social justice and the belief that no one should have to spend a lifetime toiling in filth so that we may enjoy the benefits of a civilized life. (If we’re going to expect people to occupy the scavenger niche, we should at least pay them a living wage and provide them with good health care.) It’s hard to watch Waste Land without issues like this staring you in the face.